Toddla T

BIOGRAPHY

Do U Know Toddla T? In 2007 Toddla T (aka Tom Bell) was working in a shoe shop in his
hometown of Sheffield. Then just 19 and living at home with his parents,
he DJ'd at weekends and was producing beats and tracks with his friend
Scott as Small Arms Fiya.Now it's 2011 Toddla T is making the finishing touches to his second
album on the legendary Ninja Tune label, has a regular slot on BBC Radio
1, and has produced tracks for some of the...

Do U Know Toddla T?

In 2007 Toddla T (aka Tom Bell) was working in a shoe shop in his
hometown of Sheffield. Then just 19 and living at home with his parents,
he DJ'd at weekends and was producing beats and tracks with his friend
Scott as Small Arms Fiya.

Now it's 2011 Toddla T is making the finishing touches to his second
album on the legendary Ninja Tune label, has a regular slot on BBC Radio
1, and has produced tracks for some of the UK urban scenes biggest stars
(hands up Tinchy, Jammer, Bashy, Roots Manuva and Ms Dynamite).

He DJ's around the globe, has a slew of remixes under his belt (Hot
Chip, Gyptian, Gorillaz, Major Lazer for starters), is a star of his own
Toddla TV channel online and has worked in studios from Kingston Jamaica
to Kingston upon Hull. Not to mention the recent launch of his Girls
Music Label which, after only three releases has already featured
productions by British dance music heroes Sticky and Roska.

So how do you get to be one of the leading lights of UK dance music in 4 short years?

Much can be attributed to Toddla’s phenomenal talent, drive and
ambition. He has good taste and keen eyes and ears in all elements of
British youth culture. However, the man himself modestly explains that
it has just as much to do with the sea change which has taken place in
British Pop music in the last few years.

When Toddla first started taking to the decks outside of his home town
he was worried that no one would "get it" and to start with, many
didn't. (Listen to the track "Roadtrip" from debut album Skanky Skanky
to hear an amusing account of just such a night). No one could quite
work out who Toddla was. Was he an MC? or the producer at the front of a
now forgotten, media created "UK Digi-Dancehall revolution"? Was that
skinny white kid the voice singing about Rice n Peas? Surely not.

Not allowing this confusion to get in his way T stuck to his guns. He
could smell a change in the air and knew that what he was doing was
worth sticking with. He made a mixtape, The Toddla T Ghettoblaster Vol.1
in 2008 and put it up for free online. It was downloaded by more than
10,000 people, was brilliantly received and announced Toddla as a talent
to be watched. People other than club promoters and other DJ's started
to hear about him and his club sets started to get more and more busy
with people who were there to see him. Longtime studio spar and MC
Serocee joined him on the road and the pair started to travel far and
wide around the UK spreading the good word.

His debut album Skanky Skanky was released in January 2009, this was
followed by a Fabric live mix album and a lot of requests for his
production skills with everyone from Major Lazer to Grandmaster Flash
getting in touch. Over a Guinness or two in his new London local (he
decamped from Sheffield to the capital in 2010) Toddla reflects on the
last couple of "pretty crazy years", the current UK scene and sets out
his stall for what promises to be a very busy and successful 2011.

"When I was first signed (to 1965 Records) every kid wanted to be in a
band. The Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and all that were really
popular, me and my mates who were into Notorious B.I.G and dancehall
were really in the minority. Nowadays kids want to be Skream and Benga,
or Tinchy or N-Dubz and because of that all their points of musical
reference have changed"

It's true, there has been a huge shift in musical aesthetic, away from
the skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors of The Strokes and the seemingly
never-ending bandwagon that followed. What Toddla's saying here is borne
out of the recently released statistic that rock music has had its
worst year in the UK charts since 1960 with only 3 rock bands making it
into the top 100 songs of 2010.

As a backdrop to Dizzee, Tinie, Tinchy et al storming the charts, the
explosion of dubstep and subsequent re-evaluation of bass-driven, UK
club music has seen a major shift in what people aged 15 - 25 are raving
to. Where Soulwax and SMD and their like were ruling the clubs 2002 -
2006 nowadays seasoned campaigners like Shy FX and David Rodigan are
championed by kids who weren't born when they were first spinning
records.

Watch Me Dance is a bold step forward for Toddla T. Fans of Skanky
Skanky will find plenty that will please them but for the countless
thousands of clubbers who know Toddla T the DJ but haven't heard his
productions this second album may come as a surprise. Toddla explains...

"I've been busiest in the last two years as a DJ, so of course this
album has a big dose of the sounds and production techniques that I'm
out there representing in the clubs every weekend but if you're looking
for tops-off jungle or 4x4 bassline tearouts you won't find them here.
This is definitely still a record for clubbers, but it's the one they'll
listen to at home with their mates or every day on the way to work"

In Watch Me Dance Toddla has created a dubwise, street-soul
masterpiece. In a typically precocious reference to records that were
made when he was 4 and 10 years old respectively Toddla sums it up. "A
bit of the Soul from Soul II Soul Club Classics and a bit of the
Left-field from Leftism, I've been listening to those now and again,
they took in a whole load of club music and made an album that summed
something up and were great to listen to at the same time."

BIOGRAPHY

Do U Know Toddla T? In 2007 Toddla T (aka Tom Bell) was working in a shoe shop in his
hometown of Sheffield. Then just 19 and living at home with his parents,
he DJ'd at weekends and was producing beats and tracks with his friend
Scott as Small Arms Fiya.Now it's 2011 Toddla T is making the finishing touches to his second
album on the legendary Ninja Tune label, has a regular slot on BBC Radio
1, and has produced tracks for some of the UK urban scenes big...

Do U Know Toddla T?

In 2007 Toddla T (aka Tom Bell) was working in a shoe shop in his
hometown of Sheffield. Then just 19 and living at home with his parents,
he DJ'd at weekends and was producing beats and tracks with his friend
Scott as Small Arms Fiya.

Now it's 2011 Toddla T is making the finishing touches to his second
album on the legendary Ninja Tune label, has a regular slot on BBC Radio
1, and has produced tracks for some of the UK urban scenes biggest stars
(hands up Tinchy, Jammer, Bashy, Roots Manuva and Ms Dynamite).

He DJ's around the globe, has a slew of remixes under his belt (Hot
Chip, Gyptian, Gorillaz, Major Lazer for starters), is a star of his own
Toddla TV channel online and has worked in studios from Kingston Jamaica
to Kingston upon Hull. Not to mention the recent launch of his Girls
Music Label which, after only three releases has already featured
productions by British dance music heroes Sticky and Roska.

So how do you get to be one of the leading lights of UK dance music in 4 short years?

Much can be attributed to Toddla’s phenomenal talent, drive and
ambition. He has good taste and keen eyes and ears in all elements of
British youth culture. However, the man himself modestly explains that
it has just as much to do with the sea change which has taken place in
British Pop music in the last few years.

When Toddla first started taking to the decks outside of his home town
he was worried that no one would "get it" and to start with, many
didn't. (Listen to the track "Roadtrip" from debut album Skanky Skanky
to hear an amusing account of just such a night). No one could quite
work out who Toddla was. Was he an MC? or the producer at the front of a
now forgotten, media created "UK Digi-Dancehall revolution"? Was that
skinny white kid the voice singing about Rice n Peas? Surely not.

Not allowing this confusion to get in his way T stuck to his guns. He
could smell a change in the air and knew that what he was doing was
worth sticking with. He made a mixtape, The Toddla T Ghettoblaster Vol.1
in 2008 and put it up for free online. It was downloaded by more than
10,000 people, was brilliantly received and announced Toddla as a talent
to be watched. People other than club promoters and other DJ's started
to hear about him and his club sets started to get more and more busy
with people who were there to see him. Longtime studio spar and MC
Serocee joined him on the road and the pair started to travel far and
wide around the UK spreading the good word.

His debut album Skanky Skanky was released in January 2009, this was
followed by a Fabric live mix album and a lot of requests for his
production skills with everyone from Major Lazer to Grandmaster Flash
getting in touch. Over a Guinness or two in his new London local (he
decamped from Sheffield to the capital in 2010) Toddla reflects on the
last couple of "pretty crazy years", the current UK scene and sets out
his stall for what promises to be a very busy and successful 2011.

"When I was first signed (to 1965 Records) every kid wanted to be in a
band. The Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and all that were really
popular, me and my mates who were into Notorious B.I.G and dancehall
were really in the minority. Nowadays kids want to be Skream and Benga,
or Tinchy or N-Dubz and because of that all their points of musical
reference have changed"

It's true, there has been a huge shift in musical aesthetic, away from
the skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors of The Strokes and the seemingly
never-ending bandwagon that followed. What Toddla's saying here is borne
out of the recently released statistic that rock music has had its
worst year in the UK charts since 1960 with only 3 rock bands making it
into the top 100 songs of 2010.

As a backdrop to Dizzee, Tinie, Tinchy et al storming the charts, the
explosion of dubstep and subsequent re-evaluation of bass-driven, UK
club music has seen a major shift in what people aged 15 - 25 are raving
to. Where Soulwax and SMD and their like were ruling the clubs 2002 -
2006 nowadays seasoned campaigners like Shy FX and David Rodigan are
championed by kids who weren't born when they were first spinning
records.

Watch Me Dance is a bold step forward for Toddla T. Fans of Skanky
Skanky will find plenty that will please them but for the countless
thousands of clubbers who know Toddla T the DJ but haven't heard his
productions this second album may come as a surprise. Toddla explains...

"I've been busiest in the last two years as a DJ, so of course this
album has a big dose of the sounds and production techniques that I'm
out there representing in the clubs every weekend but if you're looking
for tops-off jungle or 4x4 bassline tearouts you won't find them here.
This is definitely still a record for clubbers, but it's the one they'll
listen to at home with their mates or every day on the way to work"

In Watch Me Dance Toddla has created a dubwise, street-soul
masterpiece. In a typically precocious reference to records that were
made when he was 4 and 10 years old respectively Toddla sums it up. "A
bit of the Soul from Soul II Soul Club Classics and a bit of the
Left-field from Leftism, I've been listening to those now and again,
they took in a whole load of club music and made an album that summed
something up and were great to listen to at the same time."